Today's Good News

March 2009

03/01               Psalm 52:1-3
For the choir director: A psalm[a] of David, regarding the time Doeg the Edomite said to Saul, “David has gone to see Ahimelech.”  Why do you boast about your crimes, great warrior?  Don’t you realize God’s justice continues forever?  All day long you plot destruction.  Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you’re an expert at telling lies.  You love evil more than good and lies more than truth.

EVIL
Evil assumes that it is in the lead.  It never sees hell on the horizon.  Life seems to go on forever with nothing changed.  We are facing a hard time in our nation.  Could it be that too many have rejoiced over those things that are against God?  Are we experiencing a day of retribution?  Pray for peace in the world and that we will experience the peace and protection of the Lord.

 

03/02               Psalm 52:4-7
You love to destroy others with your words, you liar!  But God will strike you down once and for all.  He will pull you from your home and uproot you from the land of the living.  The righteous will see it and be amazed.  They will laugh and say, “Look what happens to mighty warriors who do not trust in God.  They trust their wealth instead and grow more and more bold in their wickedness.”

WEALTH
Wealth can disappear overnight.  Nine months ago our nation was twelve trillion dollars wealthier.  Do not trust in your wealth, trust in the Lord.  Do not forget that the Lord holds the fate of all in His hand.  Jesus is seeking the lost.  We are partners together with Him.  We should be seeking the lost.  Pray that the Lord would use us to further His Kingdom.

 

03/03               Psalm 52:8
But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.  I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.  I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done.  I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people.

STRENGTH
The olive tree is strong.  It is one of the strongest of all trees.  When we reside in the house of the Lord we too will be strong.  If the Lord is for us who can be against us?  In the midst of your struggle today, know that the Lord is with you and He will make you strong.

 

03/04               2 Peter 3:1
This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory.

REMEMBER
Remember who you are and whose you are.  Consistently reading the Word of God will help you remember.  Memorizing Scripture will help.  Obedience to His commands will equip us to remember.  If the Lord Jesus is the focus of our life, remembering will become second nature and we will not forget that He is Lord.

 

03/05               2 Peter 3:2
I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.

READ
Read the Bible everyday.  Read it methodically.  Keep a notebook near when you read so that things the Holy Spirit impresses on your heart can be noted so that you remember what He said.  We want to be useful and usable and a good knowledge of His Word will encourage us and strengthen us as we face the challenges of our life.  The Lord is good.

 

03/06               2 Peter 3:3-4
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.  They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

QUESTIONS
Remember that unbelievers only have questions.  There is no faith.  They are dead in their trespasses and sin and cannot know God nor can they understand the things of God.  They will not hear us if we give the wrong impressions.  What we do is heard much more quickly than what we say.  We can have questions and when we do we take them to the Lord.  We understand that there will be many questions that will take time for us to understand the answer and sometimes we will not know the answer in this life.  But we believe.  A lost world will never believe.  That is why we are to proclaim Christ in all we do.  We are seeking the lost that they might come to know Him.

 

03/07               2 Peter 3:5-7
They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.  Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood.  And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

JUDGMENT
Judgment belongs to God.  We cannot judge others properly so we are called not to judge.  People don’t need us to judge them, they need us to love and forgive them.  Be careful in your dealings with the lost.  The temptation is to condemn them.  Don’t condemn instead pray for them.  Pray that they might know the Lord.  Pray that they might have real life in Christ.

 

03/08          2 Peter 3:8
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.

DAY
God is different than we are.  He is concerned about us.  He came into our world as we are to save us from our stupidity and hard heartedness-our sin.  His wisdom comes from His Word.  Read it, understand it and live by it.  The Lord is in control and everything will happen according to His plan and we do not have to fret about that.  Gratitude is a high level of praise for the Lord.

 

03/09          2 Peter 3:9-10
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.  But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

TIMING
Rejoice in God’s timing.  It is always correct and always on time.  He loves you and me.  He is seeking our best interest.  Follow Him and let His love and guidance give you real life.  Jesus is Lord.

 

03/10          2 Peter 3:11-12
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.

NOW
Now is the only time we ever have.  Do what you should now.  Ask forgiveness now this very hour.  Seek a growing relationship with Jesus now.  Live your life now under His protective guidance.  Thank the Lord now.  Be used of the Lord now.  Everything we do is done in the now.  Look forward but live now.

 

03/11          2 Peter 3:13
But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.

REJOICE
Rejoice for the Lord is good and He has come for you.  Jesus came that you might have life and that more abundantly.  He is here with us now.  As we live our life we can rejoice that He has assured us of the future.  But the great thing we can know with absolute assurance is that Jesus loves me.  We have a wonderful future ahead of us and we have a wonderful now as part of His family on earth, aliens enroute to heaven.

 

03/12          2 Peter 3:14
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

QUALITY
We want our life to have a high level of quality living.  We value a sense of peace and well being.  Jesus gives that to us.  He will give us His peace and enable us to work His plan.  When we are where God wants us doing what He created us to do life is good.  Rejoice that you are able to know this and to work it out in your daily life.

 

03/13          2 Peter 3:15-16
And remember, the Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.

FOCUS
If we keep our focus on Jesus, letting Him be the center of our life, we will not wander away from the Lord.  His wisdom and love will guide us.  His presence will comfort us in times of trouble.  His love will refresh us day by day.  Jesus is Lord and we are not.  Surrender yourself to Jesus and He will give you what you need to accomplish God’s plan for your life.

 

03/14          2 Peter 3:17-18
I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing.  Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

JESUS
Keep the focus of your life on Jesus.  He will direct your path in the way you should go.  Christ will equip you to know and do right.  He will gently nudge you when you get off the proper path.  His sacrifice is sufficient to deal with our sin and His strength is adequate to fix our mistakes.

 

03/15          Psalm 53:1
Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!

HEAR
Hear the Word of God.  It clearly identifies the way in which we should go.  The Lord is God and is worthy of all of our praise, adoration and faithfulness.  Do not be disappointed by the world for it will always disappoint you.  Rather put your heart and mind upon the things of God.  He will never disappoint you.

 

03/16          Psalm 53:2-3
God looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.  But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt.  No one does good, not a single one!

GRATITUDE
We are wise when we live with and attitude of gratitude towards God.  He came looking for us.  He provided salvation for us because we could not provide it for ourselves.  He knew our need and the depth of our sin.  He offered us salvation.  Praise God what a wonderful God we have.

 

03/17          Psalm 53:4
Will those who do evil never learn?  They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to God.

EVIL
Evil never changes.  Evil wants its own way.  Evil seeks to devour even those who name the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Learn from your relationship with Jesus.  Let Him have your attention.  Focus your life on the things of God and not the things of this world.

 

03/18          Psalm 53:5
Terror will grip them, terror like they have never known before.  God will scatter the bones of your enemies.  You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

LOST
The lost, those dead on their trespasses and sin are in need of our prayer.  We need to have a heart for the lost.  We must never forget that we were once lost and now we are part of the family of God.  We stand in His light and live by His wisdom.  The lost are not so, they have no reward, nor do they have a Savior, they are on their own.  Tell someone about Jesus today.

 

03/19          Psalm 53:6
Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?  When God restores his people, Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.

HEAVEN
Heaven is a great place.  We can rejoice with certain knowledge that we are indeed enroute to our home in heaven.  Jesus is our Savior and He saves us completely and eternally.

 

03/20          2 John 1-2
This letter is from John the Elder.  It is written to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth, as does everyone else who knows God’s truth the truth that lives in us and will be in our hearts forever.

JESUS
Jesus is the truth.  He is God in the flesh come to us.  He came looking for us and we accepted His offer of family membership.  He saved us from our sin and we were born into His family.

 

03/21          2 John 3-5
May grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God our Father and from Jesus Christ his Son, be with us who live in truth and love.  How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father.  And now I want to urge you, dear lady, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we had from the beginning.

LOVE
Love one another.  If we love Jesus we will love His children.  The call is for us to love one another.  Do not get sidetracked in life.  Remember the need for love.  Jesus equips us to be loved and to love.  Come to Christ and seek His wisdom, mercy and grace so that you life can be a life that truly loves.

 

03/22          2 John 6-8
Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.  Many deceivers have gone out into the world. They do not believe that Jesus Christ came to earth in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. Watch out, so that you do not lose the prize for which we have been working so hard. Be diligent so that you will receive your full reward.

FAITH
We have real faith when we do what Jesus told us to do.  Love one another.  Be careful to keep your life focused on Jesus.  He is God’s everything.  You don’t have to go outside of Jesus to get anything from God.  Christ is able to help you.  If you ask Him He will help.

 

03/23          2 John 9-11
For if you wander beyond the teaching of Christ, you will not have fellowship with God. But if you continue in the teaching of Christ, you will have fellowship with both the Father and the Son.  If someone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite him into your house or encourage him in any way.  Anyone who encourages him becomes a partner in his evil work.

JESUS
Test everything thing that some one says by what Jesus says.  If anyone in any way says that here is this thing that will help you grow or whatever and it isn’t focused on Jesus, turn away.  Christ is all and in all, He is God’s everything.

 

03/24          2 John 12
Well, I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to say it in a letter. For I hope to visit you soon and to talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.  Greetings from the children of your sister, chosen by God.

JOY
Jesus Christ is our joy.  In Him we have everything we need.  What do you need today?  Take it to Jesus.  He is able to do what it takes to grow you in His kingdom.

 

03/25          3 John 1-3
This letter is from John the Elder.  It is written to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.  Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is.  Some of the brothers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living in the truth.

LIFE
A life well lived is a life worthy of commendation.  We are to live so closely to Jesus that at any point the Lord is able to say “Well done.”  We want to be like Jesus.  We want to serve Jesus.  This is commendable.  Strive that you will live a life spiritually strong in Jesus.

 

03/26          3 John 4
I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children live in the truth.

VALUE
It is of great value for us to lead a Godly life.  Emulating Jesus will bear good results in our life and the life of those that are around us.  Following Jesus will put us in a position that our heavenly Father will be able to say of us, “well done.”

 

03/27          3 John 5
Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God when you take care of the traveling teachers  who are passing through, even though they are strangers to you.  They have told the church here of your friendship and your loving deeds. You do well to send them on their way in a manner that pleases God.

WITNESS
Everything we do is a witness to the amount of control Jesus has over our life.  Worry and anxiety are good indicators of the depth of our surrender to Jesus.  When we can’t forget it our give it over we are not letting Jesus have control of our life.  Let Jesus have it whatever that thing is that is badgering you.

 

03/28          3 John 7
For they are traveling for the Lord and accept nothing from those who are not Christians.  So we ourselves should support them so that we may become partners with them for the truth.

MISSIONS
We are called to be generous.  The work of the kingdom is important and the kingdom worker is worthy of our investment.  Take every opportunity to be involved in kingdom work by supporting your church and your church workers.

 

03/29          3 John 9-11
I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, does not acknowledge our authority. When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the wicked things he is saying about us. He not only refuses to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.  Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.

FOLLOW
Jesus is our example.  We love Him and we know Him.  As we live our lives we follow Him.  We are His hands and feet in this world.  We are called to care for those around us and to be kind and helpful to all that we meet.  We are also responsible for the way the think about others and the way that we respond to the needs of the helpless.

 

03/30          3 John 12
But everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, even truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth.

ACTIONS
Our actions define who we are.  The world looks at the things we do.  We know that we are saved by grace but the world determines who we are by what we do.  It is important what we say but even more important are the things we do.  When we care for the helpless and help the needy the world will listen to what we say.  Be about the Lord’s work today.  Everyone needs you.

 

03/31          3 John 13-15
I have much to tell you, but I don’t want to do it in a letter.  For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.  May God’s peace be with you.  Your friends here send you their greetings. Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.

PEACE
Only the Lord can give us peace.  We have this peace when we are His child.  Know that you can ask for His peace and in confidence experience His peace because He gives it freely to His children.

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Clay Corvin

Clay Corvin is currently a Bible Teacher and occasional preacher at Bethel Community Baptist Church in New Orleans. He is the retired VP Business and Professor of Admin at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary after completing 38 years as their Business Administrator. He was the pastor at the Brantley Baptist Center for twenty-five years. He is married to Carol Corvin and the father of three children and has three grandchildren. He ministers today as Co-pastor of the Bethel Community Baptist Church and seeks to share the Gospel with everyone. Jesus is Lord!